_Oil of Turpentine._
QUALITIES. _Form_, a limpid and colourless liquid, whose specific
gravity is only ·792; _Odour_, strong, penetrating, and peculiar;
_Taste_, hot, bitter and pungent. CHEMICAL COMPOSITION. It is an
essential oil, possessing, however, peculiar habitudes with respect to
alcohol, being readily dissolved by _hot_ alcohol, but separating again
in drops, as the spirit cools; in the cold it is sparingly soluble in
the strongest alcohol, and separates from it on standing; but it
dissolves completely in six parts of sulphuric æther. It is not acted
upon by the alkalies, except by long triture, when it is converted into
a species of resin.[671] MED. USES. It acts according to the dose,
either on the _primæ viæ_ producing catharsis, or on the kidneys,
exciting diuresis; thus its operation offers another illustration of the
views which I have so frequently urged during the progress of the
present work; it furnishes a striking example of the important influence
of quantity, or _dose_, in determining the specific operation of a
remedy; thus _two fluid-drachms_ of the oil may so excite the urinary
organs as to produce even bloody urine, and the other ill effects
described by Boerhaave and Lange; whereas _six fluid-drachms_, or a
_fluid-ounce_, will stimulate the bowels, and produce scarcely any
apparent effect upon the kidneys.
As a medicine acting powerfully on the first passages, its value seems
only to have been lately appreciated; in Tænia, it may be said to act
almost as a specific remedy, discharging it in all cases, _dead_. In
obstinate constipation, depending on affections of the brain, I have
lately had several opportunities or witnessing its beneficial effects;
in an unfortunate instance of _Hydrocephalus acutus_ in a boy of
thirteen years of age,[672] it brought away an accumulation of feculent
matter almost incredible as to quantity, after the total failure of the
strongest doses of ordinary purgatives; and, I believe, if its dose be
sufficiently large, that it may generally be administered with perfect
safety and confidence. Dr. Latham has long regarded it as a valuable
medicine in Epilepsy, in which cases it may in the first instance prove
beneficial by unloading the bowels, and subsequently in producing an
affection of the head peculiar to its use; and, which generally succeeds
a large dose, it is an approach to intoxication, but is unaccompanied
with that hilarity and elevation of thought that so usually follow the
potation of spirituous liquors. In small doses it produces diuresis, and
is used with much advantage in sciatica and lumbago.[673] Its use in
diseases of the kidneys originating from ulcerations and obstructions in
those organs has been very highly extolled. Cheyne, in his Essay on the
gout, recommends it as a specific in Sciatica; upon this subject my own
experience so completely confirms the truth of Dr. Maton’s observations,
that I shall here insert them. “If,” says he, “I may be allowed to offer
the result of my own practice, its effects are in a few instances
successful in the removal of that disease; and even those cases which I
have seen cured under its use, appeared to be rather of the symptomatic
than idiophatic kind; it is reasonable to presume that the sciatic
nerve, from its origin and course, may owe some of its morbid affections
to an obstructed ureter, as well as to a rheumatic diathesis.” _Form:
50._ Hunter spoke of oil of turpentine as a styptic, and it has been
administered in the Almond emulsion in cases of internal hemorrhage of
an active nature. We should however be very careful how we make such an
experiment. This oil has the effect of communicating the odour of
violets to the urine of those who take it, and what is still more
extraordinary, to those even who merely expose themselves for a short
time to its effluvia:[674] a mixture of ♏︎x of this oil with f℥j of
almond oil, introduced upon cotton into the ears, is serviceable in
cases of deafness resulting from a diseased action of the ceruminiferous
glands; it is also employed as a local stimulant in a variety of cases:
and in cholic, and obstinate constipation, it is sometimes exhibited in
the form of an enema. In America, oil of Turpentine, in doses of a
drachm every hour or two, has been successfully administered in cases of
Yellow fever, when, says Dr. Chapman, it appears to be soothing in its
effects, removing the sense of heat and irritation in the stomach,
subduing the force of vascular action and general excitement, and
inducing at once a condition of more comfort and security. Orfila also
recommends it as the best corrective of inflammation in the stomach from
acrid poisons. In this country it has been very successfully employed in
cases of Melæna, and in Puerperal fever. As a stimulating liniment its
advantages are considerable, see _Liniment: Terebinth:_ In Germany,
Norway, and some parts of the Russian Empire, this essential oil is
frequently used as a remedy for lesions of the tendons, and other
bruises.[675] DOSE as an anthelmintic, f℥ss-f℥ij, repeated every eight
hours until the worm is ejected; in these large quantities it is more
convenient, as well as more efficacious, to administer it like castor
oil, floating upon some liquid aromatic vehicle:[676] by rubbing up Oil
of Turpentine with mucilage, we do but render it more pungent, and
difficult to swallow. As a diuretic or stimulant it may be given in the
form of an electuary, in doses of from ♏︎x to fʒj. It may be also
employed as a very active clyster, made by carefully incorporating one
or two table spoonsful of the oil with the yelk of an egg, and adding to
it a pint of thin mucilage. This terebinthinate clyster is well
calculated to relieve a paroxysm of flatulent cholic. OFFICINAL PREP.
_Liniment. Terebinth_. L. The Pharmacopœias direct the rectification of
the oil by redistillation,[677] when it is commonly called _Spirit_ of
turpentine, but it appears to be an unnecessary refinement. Dr. Nimmo
has proposed the following process for purifying the oil intended for
medicinal use, by which it is said to have its disagreeable flavour
lessened without sustaining any loss of efficacy. To eight parts of the
oil, add one part of the strongest alcohol, and let them be well
agitated together. In a few minutes a separation takes place; the oil,
unless very impure, falls to the bottom, and the alcohol, having
discharged the impurities, floats at the top. Pour off the alcoholic
portion, add a similar quantity of alcohol, and proceed as before. If
this be repeated three or four times, the oil will become nearly
tasteless, almost inodorous, and when evaporated will leave no residuum.
But pure as the oil may be thus rendered, it speedily returns to its
original condition.
TIGLII OLEUM. L. Oil of Tiglium.